Fallujah Drops A New Single, New Album Coming This March


Fallujah just dropped a fire-new single and music video for ‘Ultraviolet’! The track is the first new music from their upcoming album Dreamless, out this March 15th via Nuclear Blast. It will be the first album with new vocalist Antonio Palermo. March 15th via Nuclear Blast Records and will be the first to feature new vocalist Antonio Palermo. Check out the music video directed by Robert Graves (The Black Dahlia Murder, Abysmal Dawn) for ‘Ultraviolet’ now.Continue reading


Benji Baret From Ne Obliviscaris Talks Urn, Progressive Metal And More


Without a doubt, one of the best albums of 2017 was Urn by Ne Obliviscaris. The band has changed the game of what can be considered extreme, melodic and progressive metal all at once. They have created a musical world where all the elements can co-exist equally, without sacrificing one for the other. On their recent tour of the USA, Ghost Cult’s Keefy caught up with shredder Benji Baret in New York City at Le Poisson Rouge. The two discussed the success of Urn, the bands’ process of making and producing the record, what progressive metal means in this day and age, and a lot more. Videography and photography by Omar Cordy/ OJC Photography, assisted by Heather Wilkinson. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Cannibal Corpse – Red Before Black


Hold on to your intestines. Buffalo’s finest (via Florida), Cannibal Corpse, are back to shred your organs, peel your skin, and violate your ears in the vilest, sickest ways possible with new album Red Before Black.Continue reading


Carnifex To Release New Album, Slow Death This Summer


carnifexslowdeathcd

California deathcore band Carnifex will drop their new album Slow Death on August 5th from Nuclear Blast Records. Slow Death produced and recorded by Carnifex and Mick Kenney (Anaal Nakrath, Bleeding Through), co-produced by Jason Suecof (Death Angel, Chelsea Grin, Job For A Cowboy) and mixed by Mark Lewis (The Black Dahlia Murder,Whitechapel, Devildriver, Deicide) at Audiohammer Studios. Artwork for Slow Death for the album was created by longtime collaborator godmachine. Pre-orders are live now at this link:
http://goo.gl/vSSlPI

Front man Scot Ian Lewis commented about the new album:

“Album number six, over ten years as a band and we have more fire and passion than ever,. This album will reshape our genre and be looked back on as an album that started a new movement for aggressive, dark metal. We’re going to show those who love us and those who hate us just how far reaching our ambition is.”

Slow Death track listing:

01.Dark Heart Ceremony
02.Slow Death
03.Drown Me In Blood
04.Pale Ghost
05.Black Candles Burning
06.Six Feet Closer To Hell
07.Necrotoxic
08.Life Fades To A Funeral
09.Countess Of The Crescent Moon
10.Servants To The Horde

Carnifex, Photo by Clayton Addison © 2015)</center

Carnifex, Photo by Clayton Addison © 2015)


Carnifex is:

Scott Lewis – Vocals

Shawn Cameron – Drums

Jordan Lockrey – Guitar

Cory Arford – Guitar

Fred Calderon – Bass

Carnifex on Facebook

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Road Tested: Kyle Gunther of Battlecross


Battlecross (via Facebook)

Battlecross (via Facebook)

Battlecross is part of a new breed of modern thrash metallers who have earned their stripes through constant touring and attracting new fans along the way. Since their beginnings in 2003, the band has built their brand from the ground up, and never looked back.

They have completed recording their forthcoming album Rise To Power (out August 21, 2015 via Metal Blade Records) and are about to complete their Los Angeles stop on their now completed North American tour supporting Crowbar. Frontman Kyle “Gumby” Gunther, nursing a sore back, talked about the tour after their longest time off of the road in a while.

The Crowbar dudes are extremely awesome. They’re always out and always doing something there. They invited everyone on the bus a couple of times. We rarely see a headliner that acts like that. They’re really awesome dudes. The show’s been good. No bum nights yet,” he said.

In the last four years, these past four months is the longest I’ve been at my house. We try to keep a seven or eight month tour schedule every year. We’ve hit that three out of four years.

Battlecross, by Meg Loyal Photography

Battlecross, by Meg Loyal Photography

 

Coining the tag “blue collar thrash metal,” Battlecross are notorious for being road dogs, but also are constantly writing new material for future releases.

They write on the road. It’s pretty much Tony [Asta, guitars] and Hiran [Deraniyagala, guitars] write riffs and Don [Slater, bass] would write a song. Alex [Bent] would put his drums on it and I’ll try not to suck at lyrics,” he said, sarcastically.

He shared his writing process entering Rise To Power, and his approaches towards song topics. “[I write about] just everyday life. I don’t write mystical, stupid ass songs. That’ll never happen. I write songs about everyday life, and a lot of Game of Thrones references are going to be on the next album. I wonder who’s going to call me out on it? I went HARD into Game of Thrones.

What part of Game of Thrones inspired the writing on Rise To Power? “I love the Starks. Any story with the Starks in it is awesome. I named my dog Aria. Me and the old lady were trying to trick the kid into naming it Aria. He’s like ‘I don’t want that name!’ Yes Caleb [Gunther’s son] – that’s what we’re naming it.

Hiran Deraniyagala of Battlecross. Photo Credit: Meg Loyal Photography

Hiran Deraniyagala of Battlecross. Photo Credit: Meg Loyal Photography

While that is a small piece of what went into the new album, Gunther shared more about what was running through his mind towards lyrical topics.

I’ve got uplifting songs, and songs about the government and how it sucks. I’ve also got songs about how people suck – how they’re sheeple. My kid doesn’t take it sometimes very well when I go on tour and takes it out on me. I get that but it still hurts. I took that into consideration for one of the songs. We all leave home and we all leave our loved ones. So that’s what the song ‘Absence’ is about. It’s going to be our first music video. ‘Not Your Slave’ – pretty much self explanatory. I’m not your slave. You’ve got people that are like ‘my view is this’ and ‘my view is that.’ They don’t understand that you have a view as well and you’re entitled to that view. I appreciate everyone’s view but fuck off. I’ve got my own.

Their homebase of Detroit also becomes an inspiration for them as they watch their surrounding suffer through tough times. “Detroit was once known for working its ass off,” said Gunther. “We defeated the Nazis. Now the state’s left in shambles. Dow Chemical runs the thing and it sucks but whatever. We have a good time at it and we take that work ethic and go forth with it. I grew up in the Michigan that was the best state in the union. I’m not a rich ass kid but we didn’t go without. I would have been the sixth generation to work for General Motors, but then they left all of the jobs to go to different countries.

Tony Asta of Battlecross, by Meg Loyal Photography

Tony Asta of Battlecross, by Meg Loyal Photography.

The band returned to Audiohammer Studios to work with the production team of Jason Suecof to work on the new album. Being this is their third album, they have found ways to work together without changing too much of the chemistry between them.

We did it the same way we’ve done all of them. Jason Suecof and Mark Lewis did a bang up job on steering us in the right direction. They didn’t change anything. They were like ‘why don’t you try this?’ That worked out killer,” he said.

It’s fun watching two people with ADHD try to work together. Sessions are long. Fortunately enough, he had a band cancel after not being able to obtain visas when they had their time booked. He’s like ‘well I have this time open…’ [He] readjusted the pay and went on from there. We got an extra three weeks out of him. That was fucking awesome.

Being known for their craziness in the studio and some well documented antics involving musicians being thrown in the pool at the studio, Gunther shared his own experiences. “I actually had to go swimming for my phone in the pool. It took two of the biggest bounces I’ve ever seen a phone take into the pool. So it was a cold, rainy night and I was like ‘ah fuck it.’ I went in the pool.

Battlecross has now reached a pinnacle moment in their careers, and now they have placed various personal challenges on this one after setting the building blocks on their careers from the first two albums.

I only got to write one song on the first album,” said Gunther, looking back on the Pursuit of Honor. “They wrote that album over six years. That first album was no first album. It’s like ‘are you going to take this one? Sweet…’ We don’t have to write a new one. I was the new guy at the time. Take that and it’s like you wrote songs as a local band because you love to do it and that’s what you’re doing.

When we had to do War Of Will, it was like we’ve got to do something because we’ve been around. We knew we were going to [Rockstar] Mayhem [Festival]. We were doing big shit so this has got to be good. There was pressure. Metal Blade – on the first album, they were like ‘alright we’ll take that.’ On the second one, ‘alright we’ll need this…’ And on this one, the pressure was on. Third album – this is pretty much make it or break it, and I hope we make it. I hope we made it. Tour experience, playing with bands and it all came together.

Don Slater of Battlecross.

Don Slater of Battlecross, by Meg Loyal Photography.

Battlecross has ventured around the globe but there are still some spots they would like to hit on this upcoming tour run. “I want to go to Australia. I got to go to Germany. I got to go home. That was awesome. That was always a life goal to go to Germany and I’ve been twice. Even my sister was like ‘you motherfucker…’ That was cool.

Their hard work has been noticed by many people, but Gunther shared one of the compliments coming from an unexpected place. “It’s really cool when Matt [Byrnes, drums] from Hatebreed was like ‘hey we’re gonna hook you guys up for a tour…but you already have a tour! You’re always touring.’ So that’s actually a really big compliment for me from the Hatebreed dudes.

By Rei Nishimoto


Kataklysm Releasing Signature Hot Sauces


kataklysm

In connection with the release of Kataklysm’s twelfth studio album Of Ghosts And Gods, out on July 31st (Europe, UK, US) via Nuclear Blast Records, the band will be releasing two powerful hot sauces. ‘GHOST FIRE’, made with ghost peppers to bring the extreme heat, and ‘GOD’S FURY’, a milder but hard hitting sauce made with garlic and habanero peppers. These hot sauces will be made available in limited quantities with the new album pre-order on the bands official website and will be available at concerts worldwide.

kataklysm hot sauce

Guitarist/producer J- F Dagenais (Malevolent Creation, Misery Index) tracked drums, guitars and bass for Of Ghosts And Gods, while vocals were recorded by producer Mark Lewis (White Chapel, Devildriver, Cannibal Corpse). The entire process was mixed and mastered in the UK by legendary producer Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Testament, Exodus, Amon Amarth). The artwork from the new album was done by up-and-coming dark and macabre artist Surtsey.

kataklysm of ghosts and gods

Of Ghosts And Gods track listing:

01: Breaching The Asylum
02: The Black Sheep
03: Thy Serpents Tongue
04: Soul Destroyer
05: Vindication
06: Marching Through Graveyards
07: Shattered
08: Hate Spirit
09: Carrying Crosses
10: The World Is A Dying Insect

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Coal Chamber – Rivals


coal chamber rivals album cover

Thirteen years is a long time. And lots of things have happened in the time frame since Coal Chamber’s last album, 2002s Dark Days. Let’s see what’s different. Physical copies of albums don’t sell all that well. Boy bands gave way to something even more horrifying in Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. Rock Band and Guitar Hero were an odd fad. EDM unfortunately exploded onto the mainstream.

Oh and Nu-Metal was swapped out as the popular sub-genre by Metalcore and/or the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Even Coal Chamber’s frontman Dez Fafara switched scenes and released six consistently solid albums with Devildriver.

So the question becomes what can Coal Chamber, Nu-Metal pioneers that suffered a fiery first death, offer this brave new world of extreme metal? In new album Rivals (Napalm Records) just maybe their strongest and most focused release ever.

Lead single ‘I.O.U. Nothing’ sets an aggressive and confident tone that permeates the following 38 minutes. And confidence is the right word here as Coal Chamber sound like a new band as opposed to one trying recapture its former glory. It’s all mid-tempo crunch from there on out with über-producer Mark Lewis providing a clean, but menacing mix. It’s public knowledge that their 2003 onstage demise was dramatic and highly amplified by substance abuse, but time does really seem to heal all wounds here. Dez and Co. have taken years of successful and momentum gaining reunion tours and channeled it on Rivals. For the faithful, ‘Suffer in Silence’ and ‘The Bridges you Burn’ are straight Nu-Metal rippers from when the genre had teeth instead of gimmicks. But there is musical progression as well, ‘Another Nail in the Coffin’ and the title track are more in sync with Devildriver’s punishing groove than channeling the 90s.

Not every blow connects, ‘Light in the Shadows’ and ‘Empty Handed’ feel more like afterthoughts or songs that couldn’t quite crack it on Dark Days. But the important take away in Rivals is the energy and level of commitment. Especially from a band that didn’t need to release a new record and continue touring. Drummer Mikey ‘Bug’ Cox and guitarist Miguel Rascon had been toying in other musical ventures for years and we all know what Fafara has been up to. They didn’t need to, but the great news is that they wanted to.

coal chamber band 2015

Rivals is a solid recording even if you didn’t take Coal Chamber or the sub-genre they had been associated with seriously. And in defense of Nu-Metal, for how many kids (myself included) was that a gateway drug to other bands? Maybe I wouldn’t have eventually learned of Relapse Records if I didn’t start with Korn and Mushroomhead first. Maybe there’s a great column waiting to be written on the importance of Nu-Metal, but that’s for another time.

So if not for the strong music, respect Rivals and Coal Chamber for being available to a new generation of young and hungry metalheads.

8/10

HANSEL LOPEZ


Battlecross Supporting Crowbar and Lord Dying On Upcoming North American Tour


crowbar battlecross lord dying tour

Motor City thrashers Battlecross will be touring with Crowbar and Lord Dying on The Summer of Doom North American Tour. They recently completed their third full length album with producer Mark Lewis and engineered by Jason Suecof at Audiohammer Studios.

BATTLECROSS Summer Of Doom Tour w/ Crowbar, Lord Dying:
May 28: Riverside Warehouse – Shreveport, LA
May 29: Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX
May 30: Dirty Dog Bar – Austin, TX
May 31: Scout Bar – Houston, TX
Jun 04: Til-Two Club – San Diego, CA
Jun 05: DiPiazza’s – Long Beach, CA
Jun 06: Whisky A Go Go – Hollywood, CA
Jun 07: Oakland Metro Operahouse – Oakland, CA
Jun 08: Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
Jun 09: El Corazon – Seattle, WA
Jun 10: The Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC
Jun 12: Republik – Calgary, AB
Jun 13: Pawn Shop Live – Edmonton, AB
Jun 14: O’Brian’s Event Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Jun 16: The Zoo Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB
Jun 17: Amsterdam Bar & Hall – St. Paul, MN
Jun 18: The Metal Grill – Cudahy, WI
Jun 19: Shelter – Detroit, MI
Jun 20: Reggie’s Rock Room – Chicago, IL
Jun 21: Alrosa Villa – Columbus, OH
Jun 22: Agora Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
Jun 23: MOD Club – Toronto, ON
Jun 24: Mavericks – Ottawa, ON
Jun 25: La Sala Rossa – Montreal, QC
Jun 26: The Palladium – Worcester, MA
Jun 27: Trick Shot Billiards – Clifton Park, NY
Jun 28: Voltage Lounge – Philadelphia, PA
Jun 29: St. Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, NY
Jun 30: Cafe 611 – Frederick, MD
Jul 01: New Brookland Tavern – Columbia, SC
Jul 02: The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Jul 03: Varsity Theatre – Baton Rouge, LA
End Tour
Aug 08: Heavy MTL – Montreal, QC

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Coal Chamber Live Streaming Tonight’s Show In Denver, CO


coal chamber tour

Coal Chamber will be streaming their March 16, 2015 show live from Denver, CO stop at Summit Music Hall, on their current North American tour with Filter, Combichrist and American Head Charge. This is one of 365 concerts to stream over a 12-month period on the Live Nation Channel on Yahoo Screen. Fans can tune in on March 16th at 10:10pm MT here. Fans will also have the freedom to stream the concert wherever they are through Yahoo Screen on iOS, Android, mobile Web, desktop, and Smart TV platforms including Apple TV, Roku, and Xbox 360.

The band will be releasing their new album Rivals on May 19, 2015 in North America via Napalm Records. The record was produced by Mark Lewis (Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel). Stream “I.O.U. Nothing” here and “Rivals” here.

Rivals Track Listing:
1. I.O.U. Nothing
2. Bad Blood Between Us
3. Light in the Shadows
4. Suffer in Silence
5. The Bridges You Burn
6. Orion
7. Another Nail in the Coffin
8. Rivals
9. Wait
10. Dumpster Dive
11. Over My Head
12. Fade Away (Karma Never Forgets)
13. Empty Handed

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